Michelle Pfeiffer says her absence from Hollywood for several years was due to her demanding schedule.

“I was pretty careful about where I shot, how long I was away, whether or not it worked out with the kids’ schedule,” Pfeiffer told Interview magazine. “And I got so picky that I was unhirable. And then… I don’t know, time just went on.”

Pfeiffer, who is mom to Claudia Rose, 24, and John Henry, 22, took time off between 2009 and 2011 and between 2013 and 2017.

“I never lost my love for acting,” she said. “I feel really at home on the movie set. I’m a more balanced person honestly when I’m working.”

After years out of the spotlight, Pfeiffer is in a new place saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

“I’m more open now, my frame of mind, because I really want to work now, because I can. And these last few years I’ve had some really interesting opportunities,” she explained.

Looking back at her life, she’s amazed she even became an actress because she was rarely exposed to films.

“I’m from Orange County, Southern California, and couldn’t have been more removed from the entertainment business,” Pfeiffer said. “In fact, I didn’t really even go to the movies much. My mother didn’t drive. My father couldn’t be bothered. So, I didn’t really go anywhere.”

Things changed for Pfeiffer once she started staying up late to watch old movies on TV. “I can’t even tell you what they were because I was so young,” she said. “But I remember watching what they were doing and saying to myself, ‘I can do that.’”